Mumbai: City Braces for Water Crisis as Dam Levels Plummet to 16% Capacity

Mumbai: The city is likely on the cusp of a water scarcity spell as all seven dams providing water to Mumbai are at a capacity of 16.97 percent. This is the lowest storage in three years. Despite the reassurances that reserved storage will suffice till the end of June, the Municipal administration is conducting a meeting to discuss the problem of storage. 

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Water Storage in the Past Three Years

7 damns supply water to the metropolis: Modaksagar, Tanasa, Bhatsa, Vihar, Tulsi, Upper Vaitarna and Madhya Vaitarna. Collectively, these reservoirs carry 2 lakh 45 thousand and 670 million liters of water. This makes it around 16.97 percent of total storage. Ideally, one percent of the supply lasts the city for three days, meaning the city requires 12-23 percent water capacity for a month. 

What is concerning in the present case is monsoon does not kick off well until July and the month of June has to be spent with stored water. Thus, it will be interesting to see if the BMC decides on a water cut in today's meeting.

After the water storage reached at 50 percent, the Municipal Administration urged the state government to permit using reserves from the Bhatsa and Upper Vaitarna dams. 

TMC Cuts Corners 
The Thane Municipal Corporation has also put restrictions on water usage until June 10  to save the resource. Swimming pools have been prohibited from using drinking water, whereas vehicle service facilities are prohibited from using water to wash cars. Citizens have been urged to save water.